THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, November 3, 1938. THE UNHAPPY MARRIAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23647, 3 November 1938, Page 10

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, November 3, 1938. THE UNHAPPY MARRIAGE

The problem of the unhappy marriage is not peculiar to any age, country or people. Though, perhaps, more perplexing now than it ever was in the past, it is as old as the laws governing marital relationships themselves. But it is perhaps a sign of the times, an illustration of a present-day trend toward a wider conception of State responsibility in the ordering of people's lives, that Governments should now be considering the need for a form of official intervention which might at least mitigate the unfortunate results of domestic disagreement Elaborating a proposal, outlined a few days ago by an" officer of his department, for the establishment of Courts of Domestic Relations, the Minister of Justice has spoken of the Government's desire to devise some procedure that will "be he.pful in bringing about the reconciliation of married couples contemplating separation." It would be futile, even while commending the Government's purpose wholeheartedly, to pretend that there will not be difficulties in the way of the successful operation of such courts as it has in mind There are and always will be, incalculable factors in human nature. Especially in cases involving marital dispute is there a tendency to resent ' interference," however well-intentioned it may be, from without. There has already been some experience in Great Britain of courts on the lines that are proposed for this country; and, on the authority of the UnderSecretary of the Department of Justice, the system has not been giving satisfaction there for reasons connected with the type of conciliator appointed to direct the courts' activities. No doubt, if the Government determines to attempt the experiment outlined by Mr Mason, it will seek to profit by such experience as it may find to guide it, never losing sight of the need for ensuring that the functions of these exceptional courts shall be discharged with the widest and most tolerant appreciation of human frailties.

Mr Mason undoubtedly places emphasis where it is required when he states that the really critical decision, which very frequently leads to divorce, is made when the parties" to an unsuccessful marriage are separated by magisterial order Those proceedings, by comparison with the divorce proceedings proper, hardly permit of wiser counsels being permitted to prevail. It is assumed, of course, that the parties to a marriage dispute have sought advice and secured legal direction of their respective affairs; and it may be confidently conjectured that opportunities for effecting timely reconciliation are not neglected at that stage But, if anything can still be accomplished in the direction of domestic readjustment, delay at the very commencement of the divorce proceedings may reasonablv be expected to aid the adjustors. Mr Dallard. to whose earlier address en this subject we have referred asks whether, in domestic proceedings, it would not be better to provide for conciliatory effort as a preliminary to any judicial proceedings, and thus to avoid ill-considered and precipitate separations. He argues that once husband and wife are ranged against each other in a public court, and charges and bitter counter-charges have been made, the quarrel is accentuated and the breach is widened. There can be no denial of the validity of those considerations, and it may be accepted thai, if marriages are to be saved, intervention, above all must be as timely as it is discreet. Human beings are, in their relations one with another as prone to succumb to a policy of drift as businesses are foi less vital though not less numan reasons And when it is recognised—as it must be—that the happy home is the State's most precious asset, the State is. seen <: have ample justification for attempting tc savt men and women from the consequences- of actions which, in the light of maturer or more charitable thought, might well prove avoidable.